Flint Creek Power Plant sponsors Earth Day activities
Posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/gentry/Community/2406/
GENTRY ó Students and local 4-H Club members celebrated Earth Day with classroom programs on Friday and outdoor programs on Saturday. The events were sponsored by AEP Southwestern Electric Power Companyís Flint Creek Power Plant.
ě We have year-round involvement by schools and the community in our environmental stewardship activities at the plant, and Earth Day gives us a chance to highlight these activities, î said plant manager Dan Lee.
ě We are pleased to be recognized by the Wildlife Habitat Council and be a part of the Signature of Sustainability tour in 2008, î said senior chemist Terry Stanfill, who spearheads the northwest Arkansas power plantís wildlife habitat efforts. ě This recognition from an international conservation organization is shared by the plant, our employees and the many volunteers and community partners who have made our habitat enhancement projects successful, î he said.
A plaque commemorating the Signature of Sustainability designation was presented by WHC vice president of programs Marcia Maslonek. A Signature of Sustainability is a habitat program which demonstrates the potential of private sector involvement for biodiversity conservation and conservation education. Each Signature of Sustainability is unique, but all go above and beyond certification standards for WHC ís Wildlife at Work program.
Programs were selected by a blue ribbon committee of judges and were evaluated based on a ranking system with points given per level of involvement in focus areas, such as environmental education, habitat enhancement and community involvement. The Flint Creek Plant was one of only 21 WHC-certified programs to receive this designation.
During one-hour classroom programs on Friday, students from kindergarten through grade six at the Gentry Primary School, Gentry Intermediate School and Gentry Middle School saw presentations, including: Lynn Sciumbatoís program about raptors, featuring a barred owl she rehabilitated at her Morning Star Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.
Ray Wiggs with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spoke to students about reptiles and showed them live snakes and a box turtle.
Lori Spencer, a professional interpreter who does programs at Mount Magazine State Park, talked about pollinators. Considered a state butterfly expert, she is author of the new book, ě Butterflies and Moths of Arkansas. î
On Saturday, activities shifted to Flint Creek Power Plantís award-winning Eagle Watch / Nature Trail, located a mile west of Gentry on Arkansas Highway 12.
The Gentry Middle School sixth grade science class worked on their butterfly garden and planting nectar and host plants they started in their classroom.
The Bloomfield Community 4-H Club worked on more flower beds and, with the help of the Cornerstone and McDonald County 4-H Clubs, planted a food plot with seeds provided by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commissionís Acres for Wildlife Program. The whole group assisted in planting paw paw trees and wafer ash trees, which serve as host plants for zebra and giant swallowtail butterflies.
The Saturday morning event also included the planting of about one-half acre of native prairie grass and wildflowers in a prairie restoration area.
After the work was finished the group listened to a program about pollinators presented by the University of Arkansas Entomology Department.
Saturday morningís activities concluded with the presentation of a Signature of Sustainability plaque.